


Parent's Weekend

by ChokolatteJedi



Series: Lost [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Air Force, Being Lost, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Loneliness, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-28
Updated: 2008-11-28
Packaged: 2017-11-12 12:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John's situation hits him a few weeks into Basic Training</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parent's Weekend

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1 of the Lost series. For CaptainUntouchable's prompt at Wraithbait, "Write an anthology of 10 individual stories, all centered around the theme that something, or someone is lost." I've chosen John Sheppard.

John sat in the quietest corner of Arnold Hall that he could find and watched the drama play out around him. He and the rest of his cadet class had just completed their five weeks of BCT and were now getting to see their parents again. Or, at least, the parents who were attending this Parent's Weekend, which didn't include John's father.

More than one mother had remarked loudly that her "baby" looked "so different," which made John snort. What did they think was going to happen when they sent their "babies" away to a school that promised to whip them into insanely good shape and then dress them up in uniforms that had more starch than fabric in them?

In one respect, John was actually grateful that he was among those without parents attending, though he suspected that if his mother was still alive he might feel differently. As it was, the only thing that his father would bring to this event would be a shouting match, so it was better that he was still in California.

John saw a cadet edging her way through the crowd, apparently seeking the same quiet corner he had chosen. Her name was Harris, he thought, and she had been in one of his groups for lessons during BCT, but she was in a different squadron, so he rarely saw her after those first few days.

As John watched, she squeezed past another sniffling mother and managed to reach the relative safety of John's clump of chairs. Glancing at him, she sat down in a chair a few feet away. "Harris comma Lexa. Wolfpack." She said, her eyes on the crowd.

John allowed himself a brief moment of celebration that he had remembered her name before responding. "Sheppard, John. Rebeleven." He had been oddly pleased when he had been assigned to the eleventh squadron. Their nickname fit nicely with the fight he had gone through to get to this place.

"So, no mother here to weep over how short your hair is?" Harris asked.

"Nope," John smirked slightly, "None for you either?"

"No, she's probably laying on the couch in a drunken stupor wondering why I haven't made her coffee these past few weeks." Harris replied, her voice completely emotionless, warding off any pity. "And you?"

"Mine's dead," John replied in the same tone, "and my dad threatened to disown me if I came here, so… nope, no hair mourning for me." Which wasn't entirely true. John had always been pleased at the crazy way his hair looked, and he had been somewhat sad to see it all laying on the floor.

"Well then good for us." Harris declared, nodding decisively. "We're bound to do fabulously here, since we don't have to spend so much time writing home."

"Exactly. And we don't have to waste money flying home for the holidays," John added.

"Right."

They sat together in silence for a few moments, John contemplating what he was actually going to do for the holidays. It the grand scheme of defying his father, getting to Colorado, and surviving BCT, small things like where he could possibly go for Christmas hadn't really crossed his mind until now.

Now he had to think about things like his squadron leader's insistence that he write home or the two and a half weeks he had off in December. He supposed he could get his motorcycle from his Sponsor Family and go on a road trip, but he wasn't sure about taking it out in the snow.

Well he was sure there had to be someone he could talk to. He and Harris couldn't be the first cadets ever who didn't really have a place to go on breaks. We'd wait a month or so and see if anything was mentioned a little closer to the holidays, and then he'd talk to someone.

With that plan in place, John decided to push all thoughts of his home to the back of his mind and get back to enjoying the respite from training that Parents' Weekend offered. Looking up, he was surprised to find that the hall had almost completely emptied while he was thinking. Even Harris had disappeared.

Glancing at his watch, he realized that another speech had started. It wasn't one he was required to attend, but he knew his roommate would be there, which meant he would have an hour to himself in his room. He made his way to Vandenberg Hall and quickly found his room. Unfortunately, sitting at his desk didn't ease his mind.

His eye kept being drawn to his roommate's picture board - every picture full of a large group, all smiling. Even one with four kids John assumed were his siblings holding up a sign saying "Go Falcons!"

John's picture board had three images - a picture of his black lab, Phantom, in front of his motorcycle, a clipped photo of an F-15 Eagle, and a postcard of the Del Mar beach near his home. He had one picture of his family, taken when he was younger and his mother was still alive, but it was with his bike and a few other things at his sponsor's house.

John turned in his seat so he couldn't see the other board. He didn't need that reminder of how alone he was.


End file.
